Shashi Tharoor hails Kerala rape victim's kin for coming out in public

Tharoor appears to be standing by his controversial remarks favouring making public the identity of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim.

He may have been snubbed by his party, but an unfazed Union Minister Shashi Tharoor appears to be standing by his controversial remarks favouring making public the identity of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim.

In his latest tweet, Tharoor has hailed the family which "openly acknowledged" the tragedy of their daughter who was raped and murdered by an auto-driver in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram and said the city has showed the way.

A Sessions Court had sentenced to death a 28-year-old man for raping and murdering the 15-year-old girl Arya last year.

In the tweet, Tharoor said, "Thiruvananthapuram shows the way. Arya's family openly acknowledge her tragedy".

His latest remark comes two days after Congress snubbed him for his tweet favouring making public the identity of the Delhi gang-rape victim and naming the proposed anti-rape legislation after her.

"It is his personal opinion. I suggest that since he is a part of the government, he should have given the suggestion to the government rather than making any such statement in public. Party forum is also open for giving suggestions," Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi had said on Wednesday.

Under the law, the identity of a rape victim cannot be disclosed. Printing or publishing the name or any matter which may make known the identity of any person against whom rape is committed is an offence under section 228-A of Indian Penal Code.

This is not the first time Tharoor has courted controversy with his public comments.

In 2009, Tharoor had tweeted he would travel in "in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows", causing a political uproar.

He was also involved in controversies surrounding IPL in 2010 when Lalit Modi had alleged that he was asked by an influential Union Minister not to get into details of Sunanda Pushkar who was given equity of approximately 4.5 per cent in one of the league franchisees.

Tharoor denied the allegations but was forced to quit as Minister of State for External Affairs.